Prewrap carton for high-speed erection



June 24, 1969 1 ADAMS, JR

PREWRAP CARTON FOR HLUIPSPEED ERECTION Sheet Filed June 10, 1968LEONA/Q21 ,QbZ/V JR. I

ATTORNEYS June 24, 1969 ADAMS, JR 3,451,611

7. PREWRAP CART'ON FOR HIUWSPEED ERECTION Filed June 10, 1968 Sheet 2012 6/ 1 111111 1 62 11h NIH 4 I N VENTOR. LEONARD ADA/14s, JR

ATTORNEYS United States Patent f U.S. Cl. 22937 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A fiat-foldable carton having simulated wrapping spot bondedto the exterior surface of the carton, and the carton having saidsimulated prewrap mounted in an improved manner around closure flapswhich, at least at one end, include a pair of opposed triangular flapswith their apices in end to end relationship, and a pair of opposedrectangular flaps in end closure relationship. The simulated prewrap iswrapped around the angular raw edges of the triangular closures and isbonded to the undersides of such triangular closure flaps. When metallicfinish material is used as the prewrap, a gap is provided between theends of the overlap prewrap on the underside of the triangular closureflaps so that raw board is exposed for cold gluing to said metallicfinish material. A carton of this type is opened on a high speederection machine of the Jones type in an improved manner without tearingor other undesirable actions which would occur on such machine if thesimulated prewrap were continuous or unsupported between such closureflaps.

This invention relates to a folding carton having a simulated prewrapbonded to the exterior surface, and to closure flaps present on at leastone end of the carton whereby such cartons may be advantageously usedwith high speed erection machines while still leading to the desiredprewrap appearance at the closure end.

Cartons having simulated attractive prewrap material bonded to theexterior surface have attained popularity in the packaging art. Suchprewrap material may be laminated to the exterior surface or,preferably, spot bonded so that the erected or open carton presents theappearance of loose wrapping commonly observed in gift packaging. Theart has been concerned not only with providing such simulated prewrapmaterial on the exterior lateral or side walls of the carton, but alsoon the opposite closure ends so that the erected carton assumes awrapped appearance at the closure flaps on the opposite ends of thecarton. Such cartons with simulated prewrap bonded to the exteriorsurface are commonly provided in a fiat-foldable form wherein the sidewalls are continuous as a result of a glue flap or the like on oneterminating end wall being bonded to a similar glue flap or a portion ofthe other terminating side wall of the carton blank. Such cartons areconventionally opened by applying pressure to the remote edges of theflat-foldable carton, whereupon the carton then assumes its particulartubular configuration which may be square-shaped or otherwise.

There is a demand for cartons with simulated prewrap which can beusefully employed in high speed erection machines such as the well knownJones machine. Flat foldable cartons are handled by such machines andare erected by means inserted into one of the open ends. An article,such as a liquid filled bottle, may then be inserted or deposited withinthe erected or open carton, whereupon the closure end of the carton maythen be sealed.

The attractive features of the simulated prewrap carton have not beenadapted to processing by such high speed 3,451,511 Patented June 24,1969 erection machines. For example, the closure flaps of such cartonshave been provided with continuous or unsupported prewrap materialextending past the top and bottom edges of the lateral or side walls ofthe carton. Such continuous or unsupported material has been folded orcreased and tucked between the closure flaps so that the fully assembledcarton resembles wrapping at the closure ends. Such a means forobtaining a simulated prewrap at the closure of the carton has beendisclosed in U.S. Letters Patent 3,257,068, issued to M. M. Wright. Thepresence of such a continuous or unsupported web of prewrap material atthe opposite ends of the cartons has made such cartons totallyunsuitable for procesing in high speed erection machines. In particular,such continuous unsupported prewrap material webs are physicallydetached or spaced from the closure flaps so that, after the closureflaps are assembled, the wrap material may be folded, creased and tuckedinto place by manipulative steps similar to those manually executed inthe preparing conventional gift wrapping at the ends of a carton orcontainer. Such unsupported prewrap material webs would be torn or wouldotherwise become disadvantageously entangled with the erection means onthe high-speed erection machines.

It is therefore one important object of the present invention to providea simulated prewrap carton in which the prewrap material is mounted tothe closure flaps at the end of a carton in an improved way.

Still another important object of the invention is a folding carton withsimulated prewrap bonded to the exterior surface and to closure flaps atthe ends of the carton in an improved way which permits such cartons tobe opened by high-speed erection machines without tearing, entanglementor other undesirable complications which could arise from thedisposition of unsupported prewrap material at the closure flaps of thecarton.

Still another important object of the invention is a folding carton inwhich closure flaps which are present at least at one of the ends of thecarton include a pair of triangular opposed flaps and a pair ofrectangular opposed fiaps, which flaps have prewrap material bondedthereto in an improved way so that the erected carton assumes theappearance of a wrapped closure end following erection and formation ofthe carton in high-speed erection machines.-

Yet another important object of the invention is a flatfoldable cartonhaving prewrap material spot bonded to the outside of the side walls ofthe carton, and loosely mounted to closure flaps present at at leastoneend of the carton so that when said carton is opened, as in a high speederection machine, said closure end assumes a loose wrapped appearancewithout any exposed edges to simulate conventional closure wrapping.

Still another important object of the invention is a fiatfoldable cartonwith prewrap material mounted to the closure flaps present at at leastone end, in the manner described, so that said closure flaps may bebonded to one another following erection of the carton by cold gluing tosimulate the conventional wrapping at the closure end of the carton. Theforegoing object provides, as a feature, cold gluing even when theprewrap material has a metallic finish, which normally would require hotmelt bonding.

Objects such as the foregoing are attained along with still otherobjects which will occur to practitioners from time to time, fromconsidering the invention of the following disclosure, includingdrawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an erected carton with simulatedprewrap disposed along lateral sides and closure ends in accordance withthe teachings of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of a carton blank which can befolded and erected to assume the simulated prewrap appearance indicatedin FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the closure flaps of FIGURE 2,with the prewrap material bonded to said closure flaps in an improvedway;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of an end closure ofan erected carton, said view taken along a plane through bothrectangular flaps and through an upper triangular flap on the closureend;

FIGURE 5 is a portional side elevational View illustrating analternative way of bonding the prewrap material to a triangular flap onthe closure end;

FIGURE 6 is a portional side elevational view showing still anotheralternative way for bonding the prewrap material to a closure flaphaving an isosceles trapezoidal configuration; and

FIGURE 7 is an end view of an alternative form of assembled closureflaps.

The use of the same reference numerals in the various views of thedrawings will indicate a reference to the same structures or parts, asthe case may be.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 indicates an erected or open cartongenerally at 10 in which a simulated prewrap material 11 is mounted tothe entire exterior surface of the carton. The prewrap material ispreferably spot bonded to the outside surface of the carton to simulateconventional loose wrapping. One end of the carton is shown with opposedtriangular closure flaps 12 and 13 with their opposed apices in nearabutting relationship and with opposed underlying rectangular closureflaps 14 and 15 in near abutting relationship. Both pairs of closureflaps are in overlying relationship to close the tubular configurationof the opened carton. The simulated prewrap material 11 is mounted in animproved way to the closure flap at the end of the carton so that thecarton may be erected to the form shown in high-speed erection machinessuch as the Jones machine.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, the carton is transformed into afiat-foldable form from a blank having four lateral or side walls 16,18, and 22. The lateral walls are divided by vertical score or creaselines 17, 19 and 21 which extend to the top and bottom edges of thelateral walls as demarcated by horizontal upper score line 23 andhorizontal lower score line 24. Terminating side wall 22 is shown ashaving a glue flap 25 and the outside of this glue flap may be bonded tothe inside edge portion 26 of the other terminating side wall 16. Thiswill provide a flat-foldable carton with mutually paired continuouswalls. When the remote edges of such a fiat-foldable carton are pressed,or forced toward each other, the carton may be erected or opened toassume a tubular configuration which, in the illustrated embodiment,will be a square cross sectional configuration.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 2 shows alternating side walls 16and 20 as having similar rectangular closure flaps 27 and 28 along thetop horizontal score line 23, and rectangular closure flaps 29 and 30along the bottom horizontal score line 24. Alternating side walls 18 and22 are shown as having opposite closure flaps of similar configuration,which are shown in the form of isosceles triangles 31 and 32 along tophorizontal score line 23, and as like isosceles triangle flaps 33 and 34along bottom horizontal score line 24.

The simulated wrap material 11 is shown as discontinuous separateportions at both the top and bottom closure flaps. Discontinuousrectangular flaps 35-38 are supported by the top closure flaps, anddiscontinuous rectangular flaps 39-42 are supported by the bottomclosure flaps. The prewrap material is supported by rectangular flaps27, 28, 29 and 30 by being bonded thereto. The rectangular prewrap flapsmay be laminated to the rectangular closure flaps or may be spot bondedthereto.

The discontinuous rectangular prewrap flaps 36, 38 at the top, and 40,42 at the bottom, are bonded to the inside surfaces of the respectiveisosceles triangular flaps. The manner by which the prewrap is bonded tosuch triangular fiaps may be illustrated by reference to the prewrapmaterial 42 and isosceles triangular closure flap 34, but it will beunderstood that the description will likewise apply in the same mannerto the other isosceles triangular closure flaps. The triangular closurefiap 34 has angular lateral edges 34a and 34b which may take the form ofraw paperboard edges. The corners 42a and 42b of the rectangular prewrapmaterial are folded over or wrapped around the raw edges 34a and 34b,and such portions assume overwrap portions, the inside surfaces being inface to face contact with the inside of the isosceles triangular flaps.In the illustrated embodiment, the side edges 44 and 45 of the overwrapportion are spaced so a gap 46 is defined therebetween. A raw paperboardarea is therefore exposed in the gap 46, which area may be cold glued tothe simulated prewrap material laminated to the outside of therectangular closure flaps 35, 37 and 41. This is particularly importantif the simulated prewrap is a metallic finish material, which wouldotherwise require hot melt bonding in face to face contact of suchmetallic finish materials.

Looking at FIGURE 4, it is seen that the overlap portions 42a, 42b ofprewrap material 42 are bonded to the underside of triangular flap 34 bycohesive or adhesive bonding material indicated at 48 and 49. Spotbonding is preferably provided between the prewrap material and thewalls and the closure ends, so that the exterior appearance simulates aloose wrapping. It is preferred that no bonding material is applied tothe outer face of the triangular closure flaps to obtain a loose fitrelationship between the prewrap and the outer face of the triangularclosure. The raw board gap 46 is shown bonded at 48a and 49a to prewrapmaterial on the rectangular closure flaps 39 and 41.

FIGURE 5 indicates a prewrap flap 50 with overwraps 51 and 52 which arein edge to edge abutting relationship as at 53. The angular edges of theisosceles triangular closure flap 53 are eifectively covered, and theoverwrap portions 51, 52 of the prewrap material are bonded to theinside surfaces of the flap 53. Such an edge to edge abuttingrelationship may be provided where the prewrap material is other thanthe metallic finish type, so that such prewrap material may be bonded inface to face contact with like prewrapped material by cold gluing.

In FIGURE 6, an isosceles trapezoidal closure flap is indicated at 54,and a prewrap material is shown at 55 with overwrap portions 56 and 57in overlapping relation as indicated at 58. The straight edge 59 or apexof the trapezoidal configuration will be in close proximity or nearabutting relationship to a similar isosceles trapezoidal triangularclosure flap in the formed closure end to simulate conventional endwrapping.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 2 has similar closure flaps at the topand bottom of the carton, and a flatfoldable carton formed from such ablank is readily processed by a high speed erection machine to open thecarton so that an article may be deposited therein. Following suchdeposit, closure ends with the mounted prewrap material are assembled byany desired means so that the ends assume the simulated conventionallywrapped appearance.

Advantages of the invention are realized by providing closure ends suchas those shown in FIGURE 2 at least at one of the ends of the cartons.The other end of the carton may be provided with other closure meanswhich do not necessarily include opposed triangular closure flaps.

It is not required that the apices of the opposed triangular flaps abutor that they even be positioned in close proximity. The view of FIGURE 7shows a closure of a carton having a rectangular tubular configuration.An end 61 has opposed isosceles triangular closure flaps 62 and 63 withtheir apices spaced a distance suflicient to display a substantiallength of a seam 64 formed by abutting edges of opposed rectangularflaps 65 and 66. The prewrap material is preferably bonded to theundersides of the triangular flaps to overwrap the angled raw edges. Theprewrap need only extend beyond the straight edges of the rectangularflaps to a small degree, say, about A inch to thereby simulate a desiredgift wrap appearance. If desired, one rectangular flap may overlap theother, said overlapping flap thereby only requiring an extending portionover the raw straight edge.

The cartons of this invention may accordingly be erected in high speedmachines of the Jones type in which about 120 cartons per minute areerected. Such high erection speeds are possible because no free orunsupported prewrap webs are disposed next to closure flaps or betweenclosure flaps. Such high speed erection leads to formed cartons havingan end closure or closures with simulated loose gift wrapping.

The invention may now be practiced in the various ways which will occurto practitioners, and 'it should be understood that all such practice isintended to comprise a part of the present invention as given furthermeaning by the language of the preceding specification.

What is claimed is:

1. A prewrap folding carton comprising, in combination:

four side walls formed for a tubular erected configuration to therebydefine a tubular portion, rectangular end flaps at least at one end inopposed orientation,

said rectangular end flaps formed and proportioned to meet in endclosure relationship at the one end of said tubular portion,

pairs of opposed isosceles outer flaps simulating a gift wrappedappearance at said at least one end, said isosceles flaps having lateralangled raw edges, and

a prewrap loosely adhered to said tubular portion and extending to theends of said rectangular flaps and opposed isosceles outer flaps, saidprewrap being cut and folded over each raw edge of the isosceles flapsto thereby define overlap portions, said overlap portions each beingsecurely bonded to the inside surface of each isosceles flap to therebyeliminate all loose prewrap at the at least one end of the carton tofacilitate high speed automatic opening, filling and sealing of the atleast one said end, and in which said overwrap portions are cut to meetin substantially opposed edge relationship at said inside surface of anisosceles flap.

2. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which said overwrap portions areproportioned so that the opposed edges of the overwrap portions arespaced to leave a raw board open portion on the inside surface of theisosceles flap thereby permitting cold gluing when metallic type prewrapis employed.

3. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 wherein both ends of said carton haveidentical rectangular and isosceles flaps.

4. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which said prewrap is not bonded tothe outer face of an isosceles flap to obtain a loose fit relationshiptherebetween, said prewrap being securely only to the underside rawboard, thereby extending the loose prewrap relationship to the ends ofsaid carton.

5. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which said overwrap portions areproportioned so the opposed edges of the overwrap portions are insubstantially abutting relationship to thereby cover substantially allthe raw board underneath said overwrap portions.

6. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which both 0pposite ends of saidcarton have rectangular end flaps in opposed orientations proportionedto overlie the end of the tubular portion in substantial abuttingrelationship, and both opposite carton ends further having pairs ofopposed isosceles outer flaps, thereby simulating a gift wrappedappearance at both opposite ends of said carton.

7. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which said opposed triangular flapsare isosceles triangular flaps having their pointed apices insubstantially abutting relationship.

8. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which said opposed triangular flapsare isosceles triangular trapezoids, having their straight edge apicesin substantially abutting relationship.

9. A prewrap carton as in claim 1 in which the apices of said opposedtriangular flaps are spaced a distance sufficient to display asubstantial length of seam formed by said opposed rectangular flaps.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,950,040 8/1960 Bolding 229-383,257,068 6/ 1966 Wright.

3,260,359 7/ 1966 Willhite.

3,343,750 9/1967' Desmond et al.

3,391,856 7/1968 Sieller 229-87 3,394,867 7/1968 Gregg 229-37 DAVIS T.MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 229-87

